SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:29 P.M. ET: 

CRIMEA VOTE – Crimea voted by a large margin to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.  President Obama said the U.S. and the international community would never accept the validity of the vote.  Now the crisis deepens.  The next move is up to us.  Is Obama up to it? 

SO TRUE – Our former UN ambassador, John Bolton, is one of the great truth tellers in American foreign policy.  His latest gem, regarding Ukraine: “I don’t think [the sanctions] will have much impact. I think the Obama administration and the Europeans are demonstrating weakness, these sanctions are pinpricks, and y’know we sent Secretary of State John Kerry to London to negotiate with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, that’s like sending a cupcake to negotiate with a steak knife.”  Bolton nails it.

THE AIRLINER – From themalaysianinsider.com:  "As the search for the missing flight MH370 enters its 10th day with few clues as to its whereabouts, the New Straits Times said today the Boeing 777-200ER dropped 5,000 feet (1,500m) to evade commercial radar detection...Investigators poring over MH370’s flight data had said the plane had flown low and used 'terrain masking' as it flew over the Bay of Bengal and headed north towards land, the NST reported."  Clearly, a knowledgeable person at the controls.  The focus remains on the pilot, especially his political activities, but there are no conclusions yet.

March 16, 2014